The Church of St Chad in Lichfield, Staffordshire (visible in the background) is thought to stand more or less on the site of the 7th century saint’s monastery, and this well in the churchyard is believed to be part of the spring in which Chad used to baptise.
BROTHER Owen was busy digging near Chad’s private oratory, when he heard the sound of many voices singing. That puzzled him: the Abbot, he knew, was praying alone, and everyone else away on errands. Moreover, the sound was coming from across fields to the southeast.
The voices, which had been growing louder, were suddenly muffled; now they definitely came from inside the chapel. Some thirty minutes passed, and then with a joyous fortissimo they burst through the roof, before fading on the breeze.
When Owen took the Abbot aside and asked about the singing, Chad revealed that angels had visited him, and would return in seven days to take him home.
A week later, a monk named Egbert, far away at the Irish monastery where Chad had once lived, stood watching the skies in wonder. For there was his old friend Chad, with Chad’s dear departed brother Cedd leading him by the hand, going up to heaven’s rest, amidst a flight of singing angels.
Précis
Owen, a 7th century monk, heard the sound of an invisible choir cross the fields, and enter the chapel where St Chad was praying. Chad later told Owen that it was some angels, who had come to prepare him for death. Sure enough, a week later an old friend miles away in Ireland saw angels carry Chad up into heaven. (60 / 60 words)
